More Articles

Pedestrians might want to watch when they step off curbs in Mount Vernon.

Someone is stealing sewer grates in Knox County. Mount Vernon Street Supervisor Dave Carpenter
estimates that 30 have been lifted there since the first of the year, and maybe an additional 20
have been taken elsewhere in the county.

Five were reported stolen in Gambier last weekend.

Carpenter said the grates weigh between 125 pounds and 200 pounds and cost roughly $1 per pound
to replace.

“How these guys have not been seen is beyond me,” he said. Most grates are 2 feet by 2 feet or 2
feet by 3 feet and “certainly would do some damage if you ran over the hole with your car.

“And if you stepped off the curb into one, it could really hurt someone. Some have a 5-foot
drop.”

He said there have been no reports of damage or injury.

What the thieves are doing with the grates is anyone’s guess. “Maybe they’re hiding them in the
trunks of junk cars,” Carpenter said, as the cars are scrapped by weight.

“I suppose it’s possible they could break them up into pieces, but that would take a monumental
effort.

“We’re bolting them down, welding them down — whatever we can to discourage thefts, but I’ve
still got to get in them,” Carpenter said. “If someone wants them bad enough, they can get
them."

It’s illegal for scrap dealers to knowingly buy manhole covers and sewer grates. Although most
have a city’s or county’s name forged into them, scrap dealers know a sewer grate when they see
one, said George Zonders, spokesman for Columbus’ Department of Public Utilities.

In 2010, Columbus police caught someone with a car full of grates, “and I believe they got jail
time,” Zonders said. “But nothing has crossed our radar since then.”

Sewer grates are safe in Delaware, too, said Public Utilities Director Brad Stanton. “We’ve had
fewer than six stolen in the last couple of years. It’s not been a big issue — certainly nothing
like Mount Vernon is experiencing.”

Ohio legislators passed a law last year that requires scrap-metal dealers to register their
businesses annually in an online database, which is only accessible by law enforcement. Beginning
Jan. 1, 2014, dealers also must provide daily logs of their purchases, complete with a photo of
each seller and the weight of what was sold.